Time for Stacy Parks Miller to Resign

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The DA self-destructed, the office imploding, rapidly over the course of the past year, and she did it to herself. She is embroiled in lawsuits and scandal, and plagued by public dissent and disgust. Let it be said though, that the voters: We were initially hopeful, she seemed like a good fit for us after the tragic disappearance of Gricar and the questionable ethics of Madiera – Stacy seemed, as an out of towner, somebody who would be a good fit for us. We could overlook that she had very little prosecutorial experience, and was young. We needed change back then, and stupidly pegged her as that.

“That office is a shadow of its former self, really,” she said, “right down to internal operations little things…. changing the people.” –Centre Daily Times, 2011

Despite her inexperience, she came in wanting to change everything. She fired career prosecutors before she even tried a case or understood the nuances of the office. It seemed, at first glance, that it was gutsy and bold; but it proved only to be reckless and stupid.

“I think it came easier to me than I thought it would,” she said, “I’ve never been responsible for a team of attorneys. I think part of my success and how confident I feel has everything to do with the people that are in there with me.” –Centre Daily Times, 2011

She seemed capable of assuring us, in that same glib, false manner that she had adopted in her campaign. The legal community was open to change. She was cocky, and more than willing to impose her inexperienced will on the courts, without willing to listen and learn. And the people kept coming and going around her, the faces of her “team” continue to change more rapidly than Centre County has ever seen before.

When it comes to the conduct of the (assistant district attorneys), it’s like night and day,” said county Judge Bradley P. Lunsford. “Prosecutors are acting like prosecutors should. Everything’s calm. Everything is good.” The drama level is “very low, to nonexistent” Lunsford said. –Centre Daily Times, 2011

Last year Stacy was caught stealing county money – while the amount was deemed too diminutive (just over 200 bucks) – to prosecute by Kathleen Kane, it is important to note that the District Attorney has prosecuted and thrown people in jail for stealing lesser amounts during her tenure in office. And while this amount is “diminutive” by the standards of Kathleen Kane, we only have a portion of the records, so we actually do not know how much of county resources were misused or stolen over her period in office. We only have a small piece of the puzzle, and the DA continues to use money at her discretion – with no oversight – and no accountability to any board or regulatory body. She claims releasing the banking records would pose a security risk, which is a loose defense at best. It’s federal law that government bodies are transparent about how they spend the money of the taxpayers that fund them. She misspent some monies, it’s not the security or privacy concerns that secretly plague her, and it’s the fear of the consequences.

There appears to me to be less politics in the practice of law,” said attorney Phillip Masorti. “And to me that’s refreshing, because it seemed like that sometime in the distant past that personalities, a defense attorney’s attitude, a defense attorney’s willingness to fight It seemed that it was causing problems with some of the individuals that were in that office.” –Centre Daily Times, 2011

Fast forward to the future and there isn’t a member of her collegial group that hasn’t been sued, screwed or effected. It goes beyond corruption, it’s unethical and criminal, and the lawyers around here are pissed. You can’t find a lawyer in Centre County who speaks highly of Stacy Parks Miller. She had to recruit her Defense lawyer, Bruce Castor, from out of town. And Bruce Castor isn’t an ace at public image either, he is the guy who recently lost an election because he failed to prosecute Bill Cosby. And while we can’t judge her on the basis she can’t get along with her peers, it is reflective of the larger inherent problem that is Stacy: She doesn’t play well with anybody.

Parks Miller, as a defense attorney, was always quick to volunteer advice and revel in big defense wins. But that’s all changed. -Centre Daily Times, 2011

She likes to win.

“Certain deals cut by her predecessor’s team were taken back when she took office. She stopped allowing people accused in fights to go into a probationary program – ARD – that would allow their records to be wiped clean.” –Centre Daily Times, 2011

Even if it means screwing other people, or breaking the law, or hurting the county financially and publicly.

And against the hopes of some, Parks Miller didn’t offer lighter punishment for minor drug deals among students. “I think a lot of people felt when she ran if she was elected that she was going to be kinder, gentler, especially in these college kid cases – particularly drug cases”, defense attorney Joe Amendola said. –Centre Daily Times, 2011

Or damaging the image and reputation of the university by ruining people’s lives with punishments too harsh for the crimes.

So far this year, she has not sought the mandatory two-year minimum sentence for those caught selling drugs in school zones – a controversial, but popular prosecution tool that attorneys say scares defendants away from trial. But Masorti and Amendola both say she has threatened it. –Centre Daily Times, 2011

In an era where the community was beginning to become alarmed at the overcrowding of jails, just after they had constructed a new prison, these practices were at odds with the politics. And they were hurting the offenders, who could not get work release and were less successful after longer, harsher sentences of reintegrating. The overzealous prosecution also concealed a level of personal maliciousness. Stacy was rumored to have begun prosecuting cases with more force, if she disliked the defense lawyer handling the case or if the accused offered her press coverage. These are not the right reasons to prosecute cases, political and personal motivations should be kept out of such serious work. And so should humiliation of the accused being posted on social media, I do not see any law that mandates further humiliation by an attention seeking prosecutor as part of a punishment. The media is more than sufficient to publicize the outcome of criminal trials in a professional capacity. Public humiliation was outlawed in the Middle Ages. It’s simply morally wrong and sickeningly irritating & transparently attention seeking on the part of a prosecutor. Let the press do their job. It’s rude to gloat and this is criminal law. Public humiliation by a gloating prosecutor is not a legal sentence for criminal acts in the United States, its unprofessional, reprehensible and takes the dignity out of your office. Prosecutors relay the facts to the press, without their narrative. You are not Kim Kardashian.

Parks Miller often said during her campaign that her knowledge of defense would be a benefit. The catch is for whom. “I do understand their side, but it doesn’t mean that I would agree with it,” she said, her grin widening. “I knew people maybe didn’t know quite what they were asking for” Nearly laughing, she continued: “I would hope that professionally that they would able to say that I do a good job.” On a personal level? That smile faded fast. “It’s not something that I really worry about,” she said.” -Centre Daily Times, 2011

Shortly after she took office, she filed for divorce from Dale Miller. Dale Miller, she is rumored to have met in Clearfield, he was the victim of a bar fight in a case she was prosecuting. Kane divorced shortly after taking office as well, Stacy’s personal life was really none of anybody’s business, and nobody really cared that much about who she was back then to really look to closely at it. But in retrospect, it seems pertinent to note personal life seemed to go as soon as she took office, whether this had any bearing on her professionally, one can only speculate.

Parks Miller is following in the steps of district attorneys who, for the past 25 years, had been career prosecutors. So some law enforcement were hesitant when she was elected. “I heard people commenting in the law enforcement arena, ‘it’ll be interesting to see how that works’,” King said. -Centre Daily Times, 2011

Law enforcement was one of the first and few to take a hesitation to Stacy Parks Miller. And with the revolving door of prosecuting attorneys and staff in the District Attorney’s office, they have likely born quite a bit of the brunt of the damage under her reign. (Police are always the first ones to smell trouble).

“On her first day, she fired half of the assistant prosecutors and began reassessing everything, right down to the color of her walls.” –Centre Daily Times, 2011

Stacy can’t seem to hire attorneys as fast as they quit. Over 40 people have left the DA office in her brief tenure. With each new ADA, the charging officer is forced to start from scratch in building the case, explaining the charges, status of investigation and taking on duties traditionally assumed by prosecutors for the sake of moving the cases along. Their workloads must be strained with copious desk work, and indeed, we’ve lost more than a few officers during the Parks Miller era.

As she fights for her own political survival and her own personal freedom from the criminal justice system, she is in a stop at nothing mentality. It’ll be quite the measure to take her down, but ultimately, it must be remembered, that all this undoing, destruction and bloodshed was brought on by her own self. In a county where even subpar DA’s can seem to float through quietly with many tenures of re-election – Stacy’s implosion was rapid. She’s in a fight for survival, and cornered, her attacks will be calculated and vicious to the same regard.

“I have a different mission now,” she says with a grin. “I’m not surprised. I joked with a lot of them beforehand who were supportive of me as a lawyer and said, ‘ you realize what you’re asking for?’ They were like, ‘Yeah we wonder if we were being smart in wishing that you would win’” –Centre Daily Times, 2011

She has waged a war against the county to hide the records, and she has done so under the guise that she was “ruined” or “embarrassed” by the release of these records. Truth be told, it wasn’t the release of the records that caused her demise, it was her own unethical and criminal behavior that did her in. Her only means for political survival, is to keep the records buried, and her misdeeds carefully concealed behind closed doors and a circle of corrupt friends. To do this, she has engaged in civil law suits and called a secret grand jury, to persecute and threaten away anybody who poses a threat to her. It’s revenge bent malicious retaliation with the end goal of political survival, no matter the cost to the county.

It is time to find someone who cares less about about their pay check and political standing in the County and is actually interested in being fair, honest and trustworthy. The Constitution and rights of all are to be protected. It is NOT about only getting the conviction. It is to be about getting to the truth and letting the truth speak for itself. Truth is more important than winning in court. But you know, it is an election season and guess who is up for wanting to continue to live off your taxes? What better time to pour out the rhetoric and try to paint a picture for yourself being the victim advocate… She is in it for the money so you know she will not give up the six figure a year job after confessing failure and for obvious corruption in the cases we know about but at least you know this that she sure is trying to sound like she cares and feels their pain…” April 1, 2013 – Political Blogger [Ominous post, that occurred prior to exposure of DA criminal activities]

I would venture to say, even if you’re not in law enforcement, and not a lawyer and not following this drama of Stacy Parks Miller, that you’re sick of hearing her name and reading about it in the papers, and that you want her gone. The best thing for this entire community would be for Stacy to resign. Mark Smith sits in the DA office and took over after Gricar, he would be a safer option than what we have now. Sean McGraw is loved and respected by the police and adored by all parties – if someone could convince him to do it. Phil Masorti would take the seat happily, and would likely run a tight office. And who doesn’t love them some Bernie Cantorna? A public movement to press her to resign seems appropriate, although look how far we got with Kane doing that. The most honorable thing for Stacy would be to withdraw her law suits, cease her antics trying to prosecute law enforcements and tender a resignation. We would all breathe a sigh of relief if she just went quietly away, but given everything, it’s likely she’ll have to be removed, at the cost of her law license and –by some legal & law enforcement opinion – possibly her freedom.